Chiquita Goes Abroad

12/06/2017

Standing across the bund. Staking out at the world's second tallest tower. Looking down upon the jin mao tower and the Shanghai World Financial Center. Only 2 hours till sunset..best attraction in Shanghai thus far. Kinda hungry..

12/06/2017

18km away from Suzhou. Tongli.

12/06/2017

Huangshan west sea grand canyon with Insta Mayfair filter. The mountain that inspired kings and poets and james cameron's 2009 avatar.

02/06/2017

The bund is where I'm standing.
Loud, extravagant across the Huangpu.
Stately still from where I am.

15/05/2017

We arrived in luang prabang on the last day of Pi Mai; the Laotian new year. Apart from the display of the phra bang, ritual devotion is carried out by bathing the buddha. The blessed water is poured not directly but through a spout of the naga beginning at the tail end. The water runs through the body that forms a gutter and on to the statue from the mouth of the naga. Painted upon the walls of the wats are jataka of gautama's life.

15/05/2017

Morning market downtown Luang Prabang. I've never really liked wet markets yet I'd visit them time again. And if I have to ask myself why. I'd probably say it's the energy. Folks once asked me what's special about Asia..and it just came to me that I'm attracted to its vibrancy. A kinda life on the streets that assaults all senses. That's why Asia.

15/05/2017

Kuang Si waterfall
Can't bring out the actual color of the water. Can't get anyone to get me a decent photo. If only there's a photog in this trip 😔

09/04/2017

Met a meerkat today.
A meerkat adventure.
So cute.

06/03/2017

Elsewhere
In the island that no one visits
A long overdue picture of the vast blue sky...So freaking hot =.=

06/03/2017

Of the cities visitors are allowed to go to in Burma, the little town of Hpa An, off the main tourist trail is one that left the deepest impression. Never knew why I had never thought to share..But I had seen and experienced so much...so much more that it isolates. And yet all I wanted is to see much more. Just as how you'd find me strange for wanting, I find it strange that you do not.
7th century stucco carvings - kawgun cave. How did I even get there 🙄

02/10/2016

The afterthoughts of a photograph.

At first it was the flurry of activity, then it was the color of the robes and then the age of these novices. How different is it in culture, how similar is it to be human.
Burma 2014.

04/09/2016

Because we are amazingly gifted with the ability to emote. I miss them clear blue skies, crisps cool air. I miss the mountains.

29/07/2016

Impression of curiosity.
It was the morning of the cooking class when we had this short walkabout a market to the outskirt of saigon. No ingredients were purchased as we were supposed to collect our own from the farm. She wasn't curious. I was the curious one. The one who wanted her to be interesting.

07/06/2016

Isla de Uros en Titicaca/Titiqaqa : 3830m

Puno must be among the highest towns I've stayed in through my trip in South America. The air is dry and windy. Temperature averages out at 5 degrees early morning and nights. The vibe of a border town.

The lake titicaca forms a natural water border between Puno of the Peruvian side and La Paz of the Bolivian. The local Uros live on artificial islands built from bundles of Totora reeds that grew in abundance in the lake. Everything from the houses to boats are also constructed around Totota reeds. Apparently the custom of living on reeds island came about as a defensive measure against enemy attack as the villages can pole their island to another part of the river escaping the advances of attackers.

Just like the Asian thatched roofs, these reeds that creates the island had to be changed once every three months or so. Even more frequently during the rainy seasons.

22/05/2016

How strange and familiar it was to be once again amongst latinos. Them who partied and dance on the streets =) Aguardiente? Three shots please!

19/02/2016

Guatapé from El Peñol aka La piedra.

Once the home of a chacique named Guatape, of which in Quechua means Stones & Water.

While not much is mentioned before the coming of the Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century, recent history remembers the town as one of Escobar's favorite retreat. Little wonder, it was a highlight of my Medellin trip =)

06/11/2015

Medellin from comuna 13; what used to be one of the roughest barrio of the city. The streets were so steep it creates an interesting visual. Outdoor escalators were installed not only as a practical move to ease the mobility of those in the neighborhood but it also impress upon these youth a positive message of inclusion. If only every city could envision or revitalize more public spaces.

The city sprawls across the valley and while it has metros (I really really like trains and can definitely appreciate their system) its well..a little overwhelming I suppose. There were days when it reminds me of Singapore. A city that creates an identity around art, modernized, touristy to the point of just too many humans around. Medellin..hmm I tried truly..but you do have awesome restaurants!!

29/10/2015

Beyond the beautiful natural landscape of Colombia, there's the people. The average person. The faces of your average Colombian families and their little joy. 19th September 2015.

27/10/2015

The colonial village in the semi arid valley that was once under water during the mesozoic and cretaceous eras leaving fosils of sea creatures 2144 meters above current sea level. That was my primary draw to villa de leyva.

Located in Boyacá. one of the 32 departments of Colombia, the village has received national recognition for it's cobbled street colonial town houses. White washed walls were set against forest green balconies, windows and door panels.

Within it's vicinity lies the Muisca solar observatory, once dubbed "El Infernito" (little hell) by the spanish conquistadors for the stone representation of fertility (phallus shaped..huge not unlike the lingams of the Hindus), some man made ponds tinted bright blue from the natural copper sulfate of the ground, El Fosil, a partially completed fosil of a kronosaurus and a nessie like creature and a strange terracota mansion.

Unfortunately there wasn't time to explore Iguague National Park where a lake of the legendary birth of the Muisca originates.

Part 2 of the terracota house, lake and town to be uploaded soon.

27/10/2015

Pozos Azules (Blue pool/well) in villa de leyva is a man made series of lake that turned turquoise blue due to the copper sulfate minerals in the soil. While quite exposed with very little shade, the area was windy and with the sun behind the clouds, it makes for a good spot to relax and reflect.

26/10/2015

Casa terracota. My highlight in villa de leyva! While cobbled stone streets and colonial houses are pretty, this definitely is strikingly bizarre and I'm nothing if not attracted to the strange and novel. An art project by the architect Octavio Mendoza Morales. The terracota house is fully functional with electricity and proper plumbing. It claims to be the largest terracotta work in the world. =) Http://www.casaterracota.com/web/index.php/en/casa-terracota

24/10/2015

Supposedly the tallest cascade in Colombia, the La chorrera measures 590m in height. But more than the cascade, the walk was so worth it. The beauty of the Andean is simply stunning to behold. I'm definitely more a mountain person than I am a beach girl =)

Trek is fairly simple and trails to the waterfall are pretty obvious. Back trekking might be a tad confusing as there are branch offs that leads to Cerro de Monserrate. According to the park ranger, the trek to monserrate is about 8 hours but one would be able to enter the park for free! ^^ I think it would be less than 8 hour cause she told us it would take us 1.5 hours to 2 hours to get to the waterfall and we made it in about 40 minutes.

23/10/2015

13th October
Cerro de La Popa. 150 meters.
Tips: Morning would be better for photography as the sun would be behind instead.

RM60 photos. Everyone told me it wasn't safe to walk up the hill by myself as I would have to by pass a rough neighborhood. It weighed heavily on my mind if I should, but it was a risk I decided I would rather not take as there were more than a thousand moments immortalized in my mobile. I wouldn't be a happy person if I lose my Mi4i.

So I got a cab and it costed me COP40k for a return journey. Entrance to the monastery costed an additional COP10k. There was a tour group before me and they thought I was part of the group and so I got in for free. Adventures. ^^

22/10/2015

Part 3 of the long weekend (Cartagena)
More pictures soon..i somehow took about 1000 pictures in just 2 days!

21/10/2015

The sound of the morning as I made my way from the sandy beaches trough the lush coastal forest to the city once more.

The sound of morning.

21/10/2015

It's not a selfie but a self portrait in the city of heroes (La Heroica) with my traditional sarong from South East Asia as a scarf and a local handmade sombrero from Colombia.
They said that the eyes are the window to the soul =)

20/10/2015

10th - 11th October
Part 2 of the long weekend (PNN Tayrona)

I was told that the Caribe coast of Colombia tends to rain come October to November. True enough it did. Fortunately it only poured once I arrived at al cabo after a 1.5 hour hike. I rushed for I left Santa Marta only by 11am.

Acro iris. That's what they call rainbows in Spanish and i was really lucky to see a complete double rainbow. A full arch down to the pixies pot of gold. =)

19/10/2015

18th October
157 meter beauty. Legend has it that the Muisca god Chibchachum flooded the Bogotá Savannah in his anger. When all seemed lost, Bochica took pity. With his staff, he parted the rocks at tequendama to drain the Savannah so its habitable once more.

The word salto which means to jump was given as myth had it that the Muisca would rather jump to their death believing they would be eagles than to submit to the Spanish conquistadors.

In the early 1920s a mansion dubbed Castillo de Bochica was built by the precipice of the cliff. The architectural design of the building drew heavily from European influence incorporating figures of local muisca mysticism. Accordingly, it was almost a train station, then a hotel and now a museum jointly managed by the national university and the Ecological Farm Foundation of Provenir.

19/10/2015

Salto del Tequendama. Once a popular destination for the elites of bogotá, the fall now has the dubious honor of being the second most polluted river in the world (not sure if they had seen rivers in some parts of continental Asia!) The river that feeds the fall is part of Rio Bogotá also known as Rio negro (black river) the river is grey black from pollution. Cruising by the highway by the river, you could smell it in all its glory. Smells like the 8 million inhabitants of bogotá..plus factory discharges. Despite its beauty, it is not featured in any guide book on Bogota or Colombia. Perhaps it will once the rehabilitation of the river is completed!

18/10/2015

The hike to the highest waterfall in Colombia; Cascada La Chorrera at 590m. More than the waterfall, the cloudy forest of the Andean mountains is simply beautiful. The hike was not tough for regular hikers and from the registration point COP8k, it took us only an hour to get to the fall. The walk from the main road took a little over 1.5 hours but its entirely worth it as we by pass mountain fincas and the awesome Andean undulating mountains. I was totally walking on clouds (literally and figuratively!) ^^